Safety concerns, pilot shortage slow use of drones on border

By Gary Martin - Express-News :
July 15, 2010

WASHINGTON ? Safety concerns and a shortage of remote pilots have slowed the integration of unmanned aerial vehicles into security plans for the Southwest border, officials told a House Homeland Security panel Thursday.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said the UAVs operated in U.S. airspace initially were designed for military applications. While the technology has advanced, ?their safety record warrants careful review.?

?The limited safety and operational data available does not support expedited or full integration into the national air space,? said Nancy Kalinowski, FAA vice president for system operations services.

The FAA recently approved the use of a UAV for South Texas, and the agency has streamlined the review process for applications to use the unmanned craft for border security and emergency purposes.

A seventh is expected to be delivered this year, and another is included in President Barack Obama's budget blueprint for fiscal year 2011, which begins Oct. 1.

Retired Maj. Gen. Michael Kostelnik, the assistant CBP commissioner for the office of air and marine, told the House Homeland Security subcommittee on border, maritime and global terrorism that there is a shortage of pilots specifically trained to remotely launch and land the unmanned craft.

?We are growing that problem,? Kostelnik said. ?It takes time.?

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, the subcommittee chairman, said ?deploying UAVs to Texas is a critical step in securing the U.S.-Mexico border.?

Cuellar said there are situational threats ?where putting eyes in the sky can assist our law enforcement in monitoring patterns and practices of criminal organizations along our borders.?

The UAVs are a crucial piece in providing surveillance, said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee.

?There is clearly bipartisan support for this mission,? McCaul said.

Kostelnik told the panel that in the future, he envisions up to 24 of the unmanned aircraft to provide immediate surveillance and observation of the entire U.S. coastline and borders.

He said the shortage of pilots and operators, specifically pilots with specialized training who can launch and land the aircraft, is the greatest near-term challenge for the program.

Kostelnik said pilots currently are being cross-trained to operate the Predator B UAV, and its maritime equivalent Guardian, both of which will be eventually based at a CBP facility at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station.

The western portion of the Texas border, between Big Bend National Park and El Paso, is being observed by a Predator UAV flown out of Sierra Vista.

As for the safety record, Kostelnik said that only one Predator has been lost, and it was due to a pilot error that forced the aircraft to crash near Nogales, Ariz., in 2006.

FAA officials said that this yearr alone, CBP has had seven reported deviations, in which the aircraft made an unplanned or unexpected move that violated airspace regulations.

The FAA must continue to take a look at the risk that UAVs will have on the traveling public, as well as the risk to people or property on the ground, Kalinowski said.